monster. "What," quoth he, "have we here? a man or a fish? dead or
alive? A fish: he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fish-like
smell." Now that is a most admirable description of the Book of Jonah.
It has "a very ancient and fish-like smell." In fact, it is about the
fishiest of all the fishy stories ever told.

Sailors' "yarns" have become proverbial for their audacious and
delicious disregard of truth, and the Book of Jonah is "briny" from
beginning to end. It contains only forty-eight verses, but its brevity
is no defect. On the contrary, that is one of its greatest charms. The
mind takes in the whole story at once, and enjoys it undiluted; as
it were a goblet of the fine generous wine of romance. Varying the
expression, the Book of Jonah may be called the perfect cameo of Bible
fiction.

When the Book of Jonah was written no one precisely knows, nor is it
discoverable who wrote it. According to Matthew Arnold some unknown
man of genius gave to Christendom the fourth gospel, and with sublime
self-abnegation allowed his name to perish. A similar remark must be
made concerning the unknown author who gave to the world this racy story
of Jonah and the whale. We heartily wish his name had been preserved for
remembrance and praise.

Our marginal Bibles date the Book of Jonah b.c. cir. 862. Other
authorities give, the more recent date of b.c. 880 as that of the events
recorded in it. This chronology will suggest an important reflection
later on.

The wonderful story of Jonah and the whale begins in this wise:--"Now
the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness
is come up before me."

Who Amittai was, and whether man or woman, is a problem still unsolved;
but it is reasonable to suppose the name was that of Jonah's father, as
the ancient Jews paid no superfluous attentions to women, and generally
traced descent from the paternal stem alone. Amittai belonged to a place
called Gathhepher, "the village of the Cow's tail," or, as otherwise
interpreted, "the Heifer's trough." Jonah's tomb is said to have been
long shown on a rocky hill near the town; but whether the old gentleman
was ever buried there no man can say. According to Mr. Bradlaugh, the
word Jonah means a dove, and is by some derived from an Arabic root,
signifying to be weak or gentle. Another interpretation, by Gesenius, is
a feeble, gentle bird. This re